Float combustion-indicator.



A. W. K. BILLINGS.

FLOAT COMBUSTION INDIGATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 11.14, 1909.

950,01 3. Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

K? Witnessea? [maven Q2. and l, wmmm lwf ASA WHITE KENNEY BILLINGS, OFHABANA, CUBA.

FLOAT COMBUSTION-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

Application filed April 14, 1909. Serial No. 489,949.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ASA WHITE KENNEY BILLiNos, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of Habana, in the Province of Habanaand Republic .of Cuba, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Float Combustion-Indicators, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for regulating the combustion inboilers, furnaces, or other! heating devices provided with a fire-potand an exit for the products of combustion, and consistsin providing asuitable indicator'and recorder connected to different parts of theheating device in such a manner that the difierences of pressureexisting in two different portions of said heating device will operatethe indicator and recorder and cause a visual'indication to be made ofthe ratio of the said differences-of pressure in said different portionsand a permanent record made of same.

Ordinarily in the process of fuel combustion no attem t is made to keeptrack of the actual condition of the combustion process, the firemanregulating the fire in the heating device in accordance with his bestjudgment. Under such; conditions a material source of loss is caused bythe lack of regulation of the amount of air entering the furnace, for ifthis is too large, as is usually the case, fuel is Wasted by theunnecessary heatin of a mass of cold air to the temperature o thechimney. If the amount of air i is insuflicient, an equally importantloss occurs through imperfect combustion with a consequentliberation ofsoot and combustible gases which pass out through the chimney. Whenattempts have been 'made to control these losses it has generally beenmade by chemical analysis of the products of combustion which is veryinconvenient,

more or less costly, and the results obtained are not suited to a promptand continuous control of the operation of the furnace or other heatingdevice.

The present invention offers avery simple heating device, such, forinstance, as the fuel-bed and the flue-passages or other exit throughwhich the products of combustion pass.

The invention also consists in providing a casing in which a float isadapted to move vertically and thereby operate an indicating andmarking'member co-acting'with a record-receiving member superimposedupon said casing to indicate to the fireman the ratio of the differencesof pressure in any two portions of the heating device, these twoportlons, as, for instance, the fuel-bed and the flue-passages or otherexit, being connected by means of tubes or pipes to the interior of saidcasing, and to'the interior chambers of the said float.

,The invention further consists in dividing the interior of the floatinto two chambers, by a conical partition or otherwise,'one of whichchambers communicates by means of a tube or pipe with the ash-pit, orsource of air supply, while the other communicates with a point in theflue-passage or other exit. The two chambers into which the interior ofthe float is divided are so shaped that the ratio of the areas of thefree surface of the liquid in said chambers varies continuously from onesuitable value corresponding to one extreme position of said float toanother suitable value corresponding to the other extreme position ofsaid float The invention further consists in providing a counterbalancefor said float, so that it remains in neutral equilibrium inall'positions when not subjected to any differences of pressure,preferably by means of a counterbalance attached to a curved arcoperated by the rising and falling of the float, Whichi counterbalanceis so arranged as to increase be readily indicated and a permanentrecord made thereof from which the fireman may secure such informationas will assist him in efliciently controlling the operation of saidheating device.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand arrangement of parts which will be readily understood by referenceto the description of the drawings and to the claims hereinafter given.

Of the drawings: The drawing shows a Section of a boiler and a verticalsection of a float-operated indicator and recorder connected to saidfurnace, the entire drawing being diagrammatical with the float-operatedindicator and recording devices greatly enlarged in proportion to thefurnace to show mpre clearly their construction.

In the drawings, 10 representsany wellknown form of boiler beneath oneend of which is a fire-pot 11 which is connected by means of a passage12 for the products of combustion passing through the usual tubes in theboiler to a stack, chimney, or other exit 13.

While in the drawing, a boiler as a means of generating steam is shown,it is obvious that the invention might be a plied equally as well to anyother form of iieating device in which a tire-pot 11' and stack or otherexit 13 for the products of combustion are used.

Beneath the grate 14 of the fire-pot is a chamber 15, as, for instance,the usual ashpit. At some convenient point adjacent to the heatingdevice is located a casing 16 in which are placed or formed two inclosedchambers 17 and 40, the latter being superimposed upon the former.

The lower portion of the casing 16 is usually cylindrical in form andhas contained therein a cylindrical float 18 closed at the top and openat the bottom and divided, as, for example, by a conical partition intotwo compartments, one of which 20 increases in area toward the top ofthe float while the other 21 decreases in area toward the top of thefloat. A tube or pipe 22 extends from the top of the float chamber tothe interior of the fire-pot 11 thus permitting any pressure contalnedtherein to be transmitted to the interior of the float chamber and actupon the float 18 contained therein.

Extending from the interior of the chamber 20 is a pipe 23,the other endof which extends into the ash-pit chamber 15 thus permitting any ressurecontained therein to be transmitte through the pipe 23 into the interiorof the said chamber 20 to act upon the float 18. In like manner a tubeor pipe 24 extends from the upper part of forated so that the liqui thechamber 21 to the interior of the farther portion of the flue-passagesor base of stack 13, thus permitting any pressure existing at said pointto be transmitted to the interior of the chamber 21 to act upon thefloat 18. The float chamber 17 is filled partially with some suitableliquid 25 in which the float l8-operates. This float 18 is provided witha central depression 26 into which extends a downwardly extendingtubular member 27 formed upon or secured to the partition 28 in thecasing 16.

The bottom of the de ression 26 is per- 5 contained within said floatchamber 17 will partially fill said depression and cover the lower endof the tubular projection 27 to form a suitable seal for thereciprocating rod 29 secured to the float 18 and passing through thetubular member 27, the upper end of said rod 29 being provided with apen or other marking device 30 which co-acts with a graduated band orribbon 31 mounted upon spools or drums 32 and movable by means of aclock mechanism 33 in the path of said marlr ing member 30. It isobvious that the move 'ment of said marking member 30 transversely ofsaid ribbon 31 and its position relative thereto at any moment willprovide a visual indication of the operation of said float 18.

The upper end of the rod 29 is connected by means of a cord 34 with apulley 35 upon a revoluble shaft 36 to which is secured a curvedcam-shaped are 37, to the periphery of which is secured a band 88supporting a counterbalance 39. The outer face of this curved arc isapproximately a spiral, being so formed that the counterbalancing forceexerted on the float increases as the float rises in sufiicient amountto balance the float in all positions when under no pressure, thuscompensating for the variable displacementof the liquid by the metalwalls of the float.

When there are no ash-pit doors or when the ash-pit doors are alwaysopen, the pipe 23 may communicate directly with the atmosphere insteadof with the ash-pit chambers 15, as shown. If a blower or similar deaice is used as the source of air-supply for the combustion, this pipemust be connected to the ash-pit chamber or otherwise, as may berequired in order to obtain a diflerence of pressure between said pipe23 and the pipe 24, which is dependent upon the rate of combustion ofthe fuel. vious that in cases when the fuel is supplied in the form of apowder lIl- SUSI)enS1OI1, a liquid or a gas, that the pipe 23 should beconnected in each case in such manner that the resulting difference ofpressure between the interior of the float chamber 20 and the interiorof the float casing 17 is dependent It is also ob-.

upon the rate of combustion or rate of supply of said fuel.

Owing to the increase in the area of tlie chamber 20 and the decrease inthe area of the chamber 21 toward the top of the float, as determined bythe shape of the partition 19, there will always be a definite positionof the float to correspond to each ratio of pressures within the workingrange, and'this position will be nearly independent of the totalpressures when the float is properly counterbalanced to allow for thevarying displacement.

The record upon the record member 31 is made in any usual manner, itonly being necessary that the rod 29 supporting the re'- cording member30 should pass out through the partition 28 of the casing 16 through aseal, thus enabling the pen and clockwork to be manipulated withoutaifect-ing the pressure readings. It is obvious that while only onemeans, as, for example, a cylindrical float 18 with the conicalpartition 19,

is shown for this purpose, there are many other possible arrangementscontaining the essential feature that the overpowering of one differenceof pressure by the other shall cause a movement which reduces theeffective area over which the pressure difi'erence causin the movementis applied, as compared with the area exposed to the other pressuredifference, and that the apparatus may be varied to accomplish this endwithout altering the principles of this invention. It is also obviousthat the centers of gravity of the float and of the volume of liquiddisplaced by same, and the centers of pressure on the difl erentsurfaces must be so related that the float will not tend to capsize orbind and thus introduce excessive friction.

\Vhen a uniform quality of fuel is used with a given thickness offuel-bed, the difference in the pressure above and below the -fuel-bedis a measure of the rate of combustion while the difference in thepressure between the tire-pot and the farther portion of theflue-passage or exit ,is a measure of the amount of gases passing. longas the ail-supply is limited to that necessary for the most etiicientcombustion the rod 29 and marking device 30 will remain in the positioncorresponding to this best efliciency. Any departure from these mostefficient conditions will be made evident at once and recorded by theoperation of the marking device upon the strip or ribbon 31. Thisprovides a ready means for indicating the general conditions ofcombustion within a furnace or other heating device, particularly inrelation to the proportionate amount of air supplied for the combustionof the fuel, and affords a means of informing the fireman, and ofkeeping a record of, when the air supply is insufiicient, resulting in aloss of eflicicncy due to theresulting imperfect combustion, or is toogreat. resulting in a loss of cfliciency due to the useless heating ofthis amount of excess air.

\Vhile this invention is adapted for use in connection with furnaces orother heating devices, it is principally intended for use in connectionwith steam.boilers, in order to obtain the maximum efficiency in theconsumption of the coal'or other fuel, and to enable a permanent recordto be kept of the departure from maximum efliciency.

It is believed that the operation of the invention and its manyadvantages will be fully apparent without any further description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a movable member carrying a graduated strip; a rod the .end ofwhich is adapted to be moved transversely of said strip; a float foroperating said rod; a casing containing the float and the liquid inwhich said float is immersed; and means interposed between said floatand diflerent parts of said heating device for causing the relativedifferences of pressure in two portions of said heating device to bevisually shown by said indicator.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a movable member carrying a graduated strip; a rod the end ofwhich is adapted to be moved transversely of said strip; a floatprovided with two compartments and adapted to operate said rod; a casingcontaining said float and the liquid in which said float is immersed;and a pipe extending from each of said compartments and from the casingto a different portion of the said heating device for causing therelative differences of pressure in two portions of said heating deviceto be visually shown by said indicator.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a movable member carrying a graduated strip; a rod the end ofwhich is adapted to be moved transversely of said strip; a floatprovided with two compartments and adapted to operate said rod, therelative areas of the horizontal cross-sections of said compartmentsvarying continuously from the top to the bottom of said compartments; acasing inclosing said float and the liquid in which it is immersed: andpipes extending from each of the said compartments and from theinclosing casing to different parts of said heating device for causingthe relative differences of pressure in two different portions of saidheating device to be visually shown by said indicator.

4. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a heatin device; a movable member carrying a graduatedstrip; a rod the end of which is adapted to be moved transversely ofsaid strip; a float provlded with two compartments and adapted tooperate said rod, one of said compartments increasing and the otherdecreasing in area of horizontal crosssection toward the top of thefloat; a casing inclosing said float and the liquid in which itisimmersed; and pipes extending from each ofsaid compartments and from thecasing to different parts of said heating device, for causing therelative diflerences, of pressure in two portions of said heating deviceto be visually shown by said indicator.

5. In a device of the class described, the combinationof a heatingdevice; a reciprocating rod; a float provided with two compartments andadapted to operate said rod; a pipe leading from one compartment to theash-pit or source of air supply of the said heating device; a pipeleading from the other compartment to the back-pass or the fartherportion of the flue-passages ofsaid heating device; and a pipe leadingfrom the float chamber to the fire-pot of said heating device. j H

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a casing; a liquid contained therein; a float therein, providedwith two compartments, one of which. increases and the other of whichdecreases in area of horizontal cross-section toward the top of saidcompartments; a rod secured to and movable with said float; a supportfor a record member; a recording member secured to the end of said rodand operated by said float; a pipe from said casing or float chamber tothe fire-pot of said heating device; a pipe from the first-mentionedchamber to the ash-pit or source of air supply of said heating device; apipe from the other compartment to the back-pass or farther portionofthe flue-passages of said heating device.

7 In a device of the class described, thecombination of a heatingdevice; a casing; a liquid contained therein; a cylmdrical floattherein, provided with a conical partition;

:1 support for a record member; a recording member operated by saidfloat; a pipe from said casing to the combustion chamber or firepotofsaid heating device; a pipe from one compartment of said float to theash-pit or source of air supply of said heating device; and a pipe fromthe other compartment of said float. to the back-pass or the fartherportion of the flue-passages of said heating device.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a casing; a liquid therein; a float therein, provided with twocompartments; a recording member secured to said float and passinthrough said casin a support for a recor member with whic said recordingmember co-acts; a pipe from the float chamber or casing to the fire-potof said heating device; a pipe from one compartment of said float to theback-pass or farther portion of the fluepassages of said heating device;and a pipe from the other compartment of said float to 'the ash-pit orsource of air supply of said heating device.

9. In a device of the class described, the eomblnation of a heatingdevice; a casing;

a liquid contained therein; a float therein;

provided with two compartments; a seal in said casing; a recordingmember secured to saidfloat and passing through the said seal; a supportfor a record member with which said recording member co-acts; a pipefrom the float chamber to the fire-pot of said heating device; a pipefrom one compartment of said float to the back-pass of said heatingdevice; and a pipe from the other compartment of said float to theash-pit or source of air supply of said heating device.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a casing; a liquid contained therein; a float therein; a seal insaid casing; a recording member secured to said float and passingthrough the seal; a support for a record member with which saidrecording member co-acts; a pipe from the float chamber or casing to thefirepot of said heating device; a pipe from the interior of said floatto the farther portion of the flue passages'of said heating device; apipe from the interior of said float to the ash-pit or source ofair-supply of said heating device; and means of counterbalancing saidfloat.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a casing; a liquid therein; a float therein, provided with twocompartments; a seal in said casing; a recording member secured to saidfloat and passing through the said seal; a support for a record memberwith which the said recording member coacts; a pipe from the floatchamber to the fire-pot of said heating device; a pipe from onecompartment of said float to the farther portion of the flue passages ofsaid heating device; a pipe from the other compartment to the ash-pit orsource of air supply of said heating device; and means for compensatingfor the variable displacement of the walls of said float in all-itspositions.

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a heatingdevice; a casing: a liquid therein; a float therein; provided with twocom artments; a seal in said casing; a recor ing member secured to saidfloat and passing through the seal; a supa curved arc operable by saidfloat; and a 10 port for a record member withwhich the counterbalancesecured thereto. said recording member co-acts; a pipe from Iv Signed byme at Habana, Cuba, this thirthe fioat ch'amber to the fire-pot ofsa'ldheattieth day of March, in the year nineteen 5 ing device; a. pipe fromone compartment of hundred and nine.

said float to the backass or farther portion ASA WHITE KENNEY BILLINGS.of the fluepassages 0 said heating device; a Witnesses: plpe from theother com artment to the HENRY P. STARRETT',

sourceof air-supply of sai heating device; VICTOR N ORMAND.

